Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: wayne zabel on December 23, 2009, 05:28:57 pm
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I did a BW last night for a mate and also did a rug of BW construction last week.Did HWE on both and used Ultrapac to pre spray.
On both I got loads of soil out - the water in the waste tank was filthy,the problem was that on both jobs the finished product didn't look brilliant.
Am I doing expecting too much or doing something wrong?Any tips for these carpets
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I thought the B/W issue had been covered in your last post on Dec 16th. Am I wrong?
Adi
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Yes you are wrong in that post I was asking about whether the rug would shrink - now I'm asking why they didnt clean up as well as I thought they might do.I'm hoping an experienced CC can put me right.
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Well looks like he took the advice but having done it is now asking about the poor result.
Sometimes despite your best efforts the deep down soil isn't removes and it may look ok at first but when dry looks poor because the dirt has wicked up to the top of the pile.
Sometimes even a wipe down with a damp towel can resolve this, or you can clean again and dry it upside down.
Did you put an air mover on it, lots of dry passes etc?
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I used an airmover on the rug and did lots of dry passes on the rug and carpet.Both jobs didn't look as good as I envisaged and had areas that just wouldn't come noticably cleaner despite applying more prespray to these areas and going over with a hand tool.
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O.K. I'm wrong.
What was the condition before you started. Was the soil general everyday foot traffic. Were there oily/greasy stains. Was the carpet sudject to particulates from cooking. How much HWE did you do. Did you try other detergents on any area's off heavy soiling. What temp did you use when doing HWE. Did you pre-vac the carpet and if so for how long. Did you leave the carpet dry. Have you tried going over with the vac again. Have you tried, as suggested by Mike, wiping the surface with a towel to see if it's still soiled?
Or, was the carpet a write off anyway.
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As we all know, one of the problems with Belgian Wiltons is shrinkage. Rinse/extraction, being the most intensive of the on-site cleaning systems, brings with it the highest risk of significant shrinkage, so sometimes, a tec. may tend to hold back and not be quite as aggressive as is required by the job. And quite right too. A scrapped carpet is a scrapped carpet. Whether it appears to be clean or dirty doesn't matter one iota. It's still scrapped and guess who's paying the replacement bill!
A lot will decry low moisture systems, but they are much safer than rinse/extraction and are capable of delivering much better results than many would believe. Below is a before and after of a BW in an Indian restaurant I cleaned a couple of years ago. It's the walkway from the kitchen so was pretty greasy. The carpets, about 100sqM, had been pre-shrunk by a previous cleaner so there were many areas where the carpet and gripper just waved at each other 'cos they were so far apart >:( So Dry Fusion saved the day. The owner told me the results were far superior to the previous company's and I was happy that I hadn't created any new problems.
SAFE and happy cleaning :)
The Ken
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Looks good Ken.
Was that just one go with the Df, or did you do, then re-do.
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In the heavy soil build up areas Joe, I cleaned them first using Restore and Activator, then cleaned them again at the end. This was to minimise the shrinkage risk. Everywhere else was cleaned just once (about 95% of the area)
Safe and happy cleaning :)
The Ken
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The Ken.
Looks like a great result there. I have always been very sceptical about the LM methods so I am very surprised to see that this type of result can be achieved.
I've noticed that in this type of environment the grease tends to sit on top of the carpet, or at least very high up in the pile unless it's a very bad one. Or if the density of the pile is such that it allows the soil to work deeper down. so suppose it makes sense that you don't need the deeper flushing action that Hwe gives. Also if the pile was effected throughout it's depth, Hwe wouldn't necessarily be the answer because any responsible CC wouldn't attempt to flush too deeply because of the risks.
Just maybe I have been too hasty in dismissing the LM methods. :-[
I really didn't intend to say all that though. What I really want to know is why you now call yourself "The Ken" :)
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Hi Nevil
Why not? The Ken is my USP ;)
LM systems can also tackle very old ground in soil and grease. Here's a before and "during" of spilt chip pan oil walked around a kitchen for 2 years. Sadly, the gentleman had terminal cancer and wasn't motivated to have the carpet cleaned until a family member finally nagged him into it,
The tec. is a colleague who I was mentoring, and this was only the second time he'd swung a rotary machine.
Safe and happy cleaning :)
The Ken
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I like it Ken. Makes you sound like a one man institution. :)
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The Ken,
What sort of duration would you expect that to take using the DF system?
Adi
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would aggitation with an envirodri/rotowash give a better result than aggitation with the df system?
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I know very little about the LM stuff but I have a Rotowash that I use on really trashed stuff and they are absolutely superb.
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A crap carpet will only ever look good when its new - BW (crap carpet no.1) ::)clean easy (Hot UPRen good agitiation) but nearly always look a bit "greyed out" even tho you know it is clean - tell the custy to buy a new carpet if thats what they are expecting. I always tell them that I aint no magician just a professional CC and that damage / wear cannot be cleaned out but I guarantee carpets will be clean...... simplez
Stu
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Thats the term i was looing for "greyed out"
As I said I got loads of dirt out and showed th customer this so the carpet was clean.I suppose as a newbie I'm expecting results that just aren't achievable
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The way i explain the "greyed out look", is that as we are dealing with a synthetic pile,
imagine a nice shiny new pop bottle on the shelf, now kick it around the floor a bit, until
it is all scuffed up. it will look completly different, all the scratches reflect the light
differently appearing to be a different colour. the same thing has happened to the pile
through wear and tear.
I then tell them a BW is virtually impossible to wear out in normal use, but aesthetically
the looks will degrade over time.
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Adi
Time for the job is less than rinse/extraction with a porty. Imagine you were extracting and agitating N/S & E/W with a rotary, but miss out the time spent "on the wand" and you wont be far out.
Gary
When I am LM cleaning on cut pile carpets such as the BW above, The Gorgeous One will use the Envirodri to accelerate the break down of the soils and lift the pile in the traffic/trashed areas. Everwhere else it's straight on with the bonnet. There are little tricks I use within the D/F system to make life easier, but I wont discuss this publicly. Nothing drastic, just tweaking procedures.
Wayne
With a greater understanding of procedures, the way chemistry/fibres/dyes react, training and experience, there are various ways of considerably reducing or even eliminating the greying effect of soiling. The phenomenon would return before the carpet would normally require cleaning, so by creating what many refer to as "apparent soiling" as opposed to actual soiling. Greying is typically "nano" levels of soiling.
Safe and happy cleaning :)
The Ken